A day long orientation workshop on establishment of “Institutional Innovation and Incubation Centres in Colleges of J&K” (I3CS) was organised by Islamia College of Science and Commerce, Srinagar on Sunday.
Talat Parvez Rohella, Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Higher Education (J&K) presided over the workshop. Prof. Mehraj Ud Din, Vice- Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir ; Mehmood Ahmad Shah, Director, Industries and Commerce, Government of J&K ; Prof. M. Y. Peerzada, Director Colleges J&K ; Prof. Yasmeen Ashaie, Nodal Principal Kashmir Division ; Principals of various Colleges; Prof. S. Majumdar, Centre for Social Entrepreneurship TISS Mumbai ; Anuj Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, ALSiSAR Impact; Parvaiz Qaisar, Director Able Data Consultants ; Irtif Lone, Incharge, Center for Innovation, J&K Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) besides various Heads of the Departments of the host College were part of the workshop.
Welcoming the participants, Principal of the host College, Prof. Sheikh Ajaz Bashir said that Islamia college has introduced PG and IPG programmes in Chemistry, Botany and Zoology from current academic session. “Further ninety percent of UG programmes had been migrated to honours platform besides introducing honours in Economics and Nanosciences from current academic year. Besides academic leap in terms of introduction of eleven new programs college had introduced academic Excellence Guidelines 2020 under which appraisal of twenty five percent of syllabus is to be done through continuous assessment only in each program. These initiatives have put Islamia college at the cusp of becoming a demeed to be university in near future,” he said.
R Ramanathan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission presented the wider canvas of Incubation Centres, co-ordination of various spokes with the hub and mentor Institutions of India. “The role of demographic advantage of younger population in India at College and University level, given the best hospitable environment, could prove a major boost to the economy, he said.
This was followed by the question/answer session both online and from the floor of the house to Ramanathan for clarification of this initiative conducted by the Colleges of the valley.
The Director Industries, who was the Chief Guest of the workshop, highlighted the role of two major Industrial sectors – Horticulture and Handicrafts vis-à-vis economic development of the State. He assured of his support to the Colleges and Universities to make this initiative a success.
Prof. MerajUd Din, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir emphasised the audience about the entrepreneur skill development. He stressed that the graduates and post-graduates of the College and Universities besides their routine teaching/learning process should come up with skill in their hands from the Colleges and Universities along with their degrees. Sanjeev Rana, Additional secretary to Govt., HED gave a departmental perspective on new initiatives.
Talat Parvez Rohella, Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Higher Education (J&K), in his presidential address appreciated the efforts of the Principal of the host College and the faculty for the effective content delivery for online teaching/learning through College LMS. He emphasised the role of dedicated and empowered faculty to run these Incubation Centres, inspire, nurture and conceptualize the ideas based on the local challenges and global competencies.
Irtif Lone in his powerpoint presentation highlighted the importance of incubation centres in the Colleges and Universities.